Driving mechanism for rolling mills



sept 1. 1925.. 1,551,958

J. KENNEDY DRIVING MCHANISM FOR ROLLING MILLS Filed June 4, 1921 [lill/1111111014 Patented Sept. 1, 1925.

UNiTED STATES PATENT: OFFICE.

DRIVING ivrncHANIsM son ROLLING` ivIILLs.

Application filed .Tune 4,

To all 107mm it may concer/n.' i Y Be it lrnown thatl l, JULIAN KENNEDY, a citizen of the United States, `residing at Pittsburgh, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Driving Mechanism for Rolling Mills, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to driving mechanism for rolling mills, and is designed to etliciently transmit the large amount of power necessary in devices of this character. My invention is particularly applicable to threehigh mills although not limited to use in that particular vtype of mill.

An object of my invention is a gear driving mechanism of the above character which is compact in forni and which will transmit the necessary large amount of power eiliciently.

Another object of my invention is such a device which is so designed as to eliminate end thrust on the shafts, and which also avoids unbalanced pressure on the shaft bearings.

Other objects of my invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading of the following description in connection with the accompanying drawings forming a part thereof and in which:

Figure 1 is an elevation of the gears with the casing in section on line I-*I of Figure 2; and

Figure 2 is a sectional elevation on line II-II of Figure 1.

Referring to the drawings, any suitable casing or housing 1 may enclose the gears.

This housing is provided with bearings for the shafts, whichimay be of any suitable design and construction. The housing is of the sectional type and the sections are held together by any suitable means, such as bolts 2.

The primary power shaft 8 is operated by any suitable motor, not shown. This shaft carries split gears l and 5, which are provided with teeth of the herring-bone type. The gears 4 and 5 mesh with gears 6 and 7, respectively, which are carried on a jack shaft 8. The gears 6 and 7 are somewhat larger in diameter than the gears 4 and 5, for speed reducing purposes. Mounted on the jack shaft 8 is a double helical gear 9 of` the herringbone type. This gear is mounted beta-'een the gears 6 and 7 and is of less diameter than the gears 6 and 7. Mounted i921. vseiiaino. 474,892.

-i in the housing 1 are two roll shafts 10 and 11. Each of these shafts carries a i gear which meshes with the gear 9. These shafts may be connected `in any suitable manner with the upper and lower rolls of a threehigh mill or other devices. The shaft 10k` carries a gear 12, and the shaft 11 a gear 13. The gears 9, 12 and 13 are mounted in tlie same plane, and the gear 9 engages both gears 12 and 13.

The housing 1 is anchored in position by any suitable means, such as the anchor bolts F ronithe foregoing, it will be seen that the gears on the roll shafts and the power gear which operates them directly, are in the same plane; and that the primary power shaft 3 transmits its power to the jack shaft 8 through the split gears located on opposite sides of the gear 9. The teeth on the gears L1 and 5 are oppositely disposed with respect to each other, as are the teeth on the gears 6 and 7. By reason of the split gears, one pair of which is placed on each side of the gear 9, the driving power will be eually applied on the two sides of the gear 9, thus eliminating any unbalanced pressure on the bearings of the shafts 8 or 8. Further, the arrangement of the teeth on the gears 4 and 5 avoids any resultant end thrust on the shafts 3 or 8, so that with the arrangement shown and described, the gears 4, 5, 6 and 7 exert substantially equal cumulative torsional stress on the shaft 8, and substantially equal and opposite end thrust oi *bc shaft large amount of power 1necessaryT in rollingl mills,witliout the consequent wear and tear and the destruction of the gears and bearings. At the same time, the driving mechanism is compact in form and affords a substantial speed reduction with a minimum number of gear units.

My invention, therefore, has many advantages, chief aniong which are that unbalanced pressure on the bearings and end thrust are eliminated, and a device is provided which by reason of the absence of these factors is durable and efficient in operation.

I claim:

1. A drive for a rolling mill having two roll shafts, a double helical gear on each roll shaft, a jack shaft having an axis of ro-` ft2 y Y 1,551,958

on the power shaft Inesh-ing'with'fthe gea-rs on the jack shaft7 saiddriving shaft vbeing located'on the'oppositeside ofthe jack- 'shaft froml the roll sha-ft.

2. A drive"`for fa= rolling ini-1T having* two rolll shafts, a doub'le helicaljgear'oneaelrroll yshaft; a 'j aok Vshaft "having an zaxis of.' rotation 'out of' theplane .containing "the axes of tlie'-r'o'll shafts,a double helical driving gear 'onthe' jack shaft meshing with the gears on the roll shafts, the three gears being in the :saine plane,: two :driving gears on the jack shaft,k one on each side of the first driving ugear, La power shaft, and two gears on the power vshaft meshing with the gears on the jack `shaftfsaid driving shaft being located on the opposite side of the jack shaft from the roll shafts andhaving its axis lying *in a plane including the axis of one of the roll shafts Aand.theaXs of the jack shaft.

"'Intestimony whereof, l have hereunto set my hand.

- JULIAN ,KENNEDY 

